As you remember these fallen officers, take comfort in recalling that they dedicated their lives to the same principles of honor, duty and courage that brought you to the badge. Such a life is truly rich. Take strength in knowing that when an officer falls, our resolve to serve those in need is not diminished. Our dedication to protecting those in danger is not weakened. Our commitment to remembering those with whom we shared the badge does not fade.

Godspeed, brothers and sisters. You fought the good fight. Now rest in peace…

Director of Public Safety John Santomauro said that the vehicle that hit Stevens' patrol car was speeding and police suspect alcohol was involved.

"He never knew what hit him," said the officer's father, Gordon Stevens Sr.

Stevens' death marks the second time in about two weeks that a Michigan police officer was killed in the line of duty.

Police said the incident began when the 52-year-old Stevens spotted the abandoned vehicle in tall grass near Lotz Road north of Van Born. Stevens parked his patrol car on the west side of Lotz and walked to the grassy area to investigate the vehicle.

After Stevens wrote down the car's license plate number, he went back to his cruiser to put the information into the police computer. He was sitting in his squad car entering the abandoned vehicle's information into the computer when he was hit by a vehicle traveling southbound on Lotz, police said.

About five minutes later, Canton Police got a call from a passing motorist who saw the wreckage of the two gnarled cars on the side of Lotz Road. Stevens was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m. at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne.

The driver and passenger in the other vehicle both were seriously injured. They also were taken to Oakwood Annapolis Hospital. Their conditions were not known Wednesday.

For Gordon Stevens Sr., his son's death was the second tragedy to strike him recently.

"This has been a rough couple weeks for me -- my wife just died of cancer two weeks ago," the elder Stevens said. "Now this. I don't know how I'm going to hold up."

Stevens, a 25-year veteran of the Canton police force, was married and lived in Ann Arbor. He began his career with the Canton Police Department as a reserve in 1976. He was among the original officers hired by the township when in 1978 the department began providing full-time police services to the community.

"Ever since he was a little boy, he always wanted to be a police officer," the elder Stevens said. "I was proud of him, but I told him just the other day to get out. Everyone has a gun these days, and that's a dangerous line of work. As it turned out, he was killed by an accident, not a gun.

During his career, Stevens earned several departmental awards, including a Commendation and a Certificate of Merit. He also was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal from the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police for his successful intervention of an armed robbery.

The last Michigan police officer to die in the line of duty was state trooper Kevin Marshall, 33, who was shot to death July 7 during a raid on a home in Fremont. An intense five-

day manhunt ended when police killed Scott Woodring, the man who was the suspect in Marshall's death.

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TASER Foundation

The TASER Foundation’s mission is to honor the service and sacrifice of local and federal law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty by providing financial and edcuational support to their families.